


Between a Rock and a Hard Place

by Tayryns_Tower (tayryn)



Category: The Princess Diaries - All Media Types
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-24 20:50:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4934839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tayryn/pseuds/Tayryns_Tower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They have some unfinished business.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Between a Rock and a Hard Place

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadyDuchess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyDuchess/gifts).



Clarisse took a sip of her tea as she stared out the window of the ballroom’s French door onto the consulate’s gardens. 

She sighed.

Unable to sleep, she’d hoped that a cup of tea would help, and had made her way down to the consulate’s kitchen to make a cup. Once the tea had steeped enough to be drinkable, Clarisse had picked up the cup and had wandered into the ballroom.

Taking another sip of the herbal tea, Clarisse leaned against door and released an even deeper sigh.

“And what is troubling my Queen at this hour of the night? Or should I say, morning?”

The quiet voice did not startle her, and an involuntary smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She’d known that he would join her eventually.

“What makes you think I am troubled?”

“Because I know you,” Joseph answered as he approached. He stopped when he reached her side, and followed her gaze out into the gardens. “What is troubling you, my dear? Is it the princess?”

“Funnily enough, no. While Amelia is certainly still quite… awkward… no, she is not what is troubling me,” Clarisse answered. “I…” she paused, searching for the right word to describe to Joseph how she was feeling. Finally, knowing that he was waiting on an answer of some kind, she simply shrugged. 

“And what does,” Joseph shrugged his shoulders, “that mean?”

“I don’t know,” Clarisse replied. “I feel… unsettled. I can’t explain it, Joseph, other than to say that there’s something… something that’s been left unfinished.”

Joseph regarded her for a moment then turned and walked across the room to where the small stereo still sat. Making sure the volume was low, he turned the stereo on. As the quiet strains of the waltz they’d danced to earlier filled the silence, Joseph returned to her side.

“Dance with me.”

“Joseph…”

“Dance with me, Clarisse. Let’s finish our dance.”

“We finished our dance this afternoon, Joseph.”

“Not that dance, my Queen,” Joseph told her, his gaze locking with hers.

Clarisse’s breath caught in her throat at the intensity in his blue eyes. She set her tea cup down on the nearby stand, with only a slight rattle, then placed her hand in his outstretched one and allowed him to lead her out onto the dance floor.

No words were spoken as they moved to the sensual music, their bodies moving fluidly and in perfect harmony. As the song ended then gave way to another and then another, the tension between them grew.

Spinning back into Joseph’s arms, her face a hair’s breadth away from his, Clarisse whispered his name.

At the longing he could hear in her voice, Joseph leaned in and covered Clarisse’s mouth with his. The kiss was hard… demanding… full of long suppressed desires and passions. He thrust his tongue deeply into her mouth, exploring the hot, sweet cavern with a voracious appetite. 

Clarisse moaned and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body closer to his. “…Joseph…” she whispered against his lips just before she thrust her tongue into his mouth to tangle with his.

As the kiss continued, Joseph resumed their waltz; their bodies swaying slowly to the music still playing softly in the background. Clarisse felt the marble column against her back, but paid it little attention when Joseph pressed his body hard against hers. She moaned again, feeling the hard ridge of his arousal pressing against her centre.

Joseph broke off the kiss and trailed his lips along her jaw to her shoulder, nudging her robe aside to nip at her creamy skin. “…mmm… such soft skin…”

“I want you, Joseph…” Clarisse spoke softly against his ear.

He lifted his head and met her eyes. Her normally bright blue eyes were dark and smoky with desire and Joseph couldn’t help but swallow hard. “Let’s go upstairs…”

Clarisse shook her head. “No… I want you now. I do not wish to wait. We’ve waited far too long as it is, don’t you think?”

“I do indeed,” Joseph replied and moved back in to capture her mouth again in a hungry kiss.

As they kissed, his fingers made quick work of the sash on her robe then slipped inside, moving up the sides of her body to curl around her breasts. His thumbs circled her nipples and teased them into hard, aching points as he held the weight of the full mounds in his hands.

Clarisse moaned and arched against him even as her hands moved between them to fumble with the buttons on his lounge pants. Once released, she slipped her hand inside and wrapped her cool fingers around his burning shaft. 

“…Clarisse…” Joseph groaned and thrust into her palm. As she stroked him, his fingers gathered up her nightgown until it was bunched at her waist then reached out to cup her mound. “Oh god…” it was a low guttural sound of pure lust when he encountered her damp panties.

“Mmm…” she hummed with pleasure as Joseph began to stroke her, pressing the sodden material between her swollen folds. “Oooh, oh, Joseph…” Clarisse gasped as his satin covered finger circled her clitoris; the material adding extra friction to his touch and enflaming her passion.

The scent of her arousal wafted up between them and Joseph inhaled deeply, pulling the fragrance deep into his lungs. “…too long…” he murmured as he slipped his fingers beneath her panties to finally touch her without a barrier. 

He cupped her again then slid his middle finger into her. 

“Jo… seph…” Clarisse inhaled sharply as Joseph slipped his ring finger into her as well.

‘God… she’s so tight…’ Joseph thought as he stroked the digits in and out of her slick heat. His erection throbbed with the need to be buried deep inside her.

“Ooohmmm…” Clarisse panted as his thumb began to circle her clit in time with the thrusting of his fingers. Her head fell back against the column, her eyes closed as she concentrated on the feel of him. It had been so long since she’d felt his touch that she wanted to savour the feeling.

Joseph smiled to himself as an inarticulate sound of pleasure escaped his Queen when he nipped at a particular spot on her neck and continued to manipulate her sex. “You feel so good…” he murmured against her throat. He sucked at the sensitive spot he’d found and laved it with his tongue. “You taste good too…”

“Mmm… oooh… Joseph…” Clarisse moaned, the sensations from his touch growing in intensity and spreading throughout her body. “…please…”

Joseph groaned as Clarisse began to drive her hips hard against his hand, thrusting herself against his fingers. He could feel her inner muscles begin to quiver and knew she was close. “That’s it,” he encouraged her as he put a little more pressure on her clit.

“…Joseph…”

“Come for me…” his fingers curled inside her.

“OH! Right there… oh yes…” Clarisse’s hips bucked against him as his fingers found just the right spot within her sheath. “…yes… oh yes… again… please, Joseph…”

“My Queen…” He circled, thrust and curled. “Come for me, Clarisse…” he felt her body tighten and heard her gasp sharply. His eyes met hers, and as he held her gaze, he quirked his fingers within her again.

Clarisse cried out his name as her orgasm crashed over her. Her every nerve ending sang as the pleasure coursed through her body. “Joseph… oh, Joseph…”

“Clarisse…” Joseph groaned as he watched her come. Her juices flowed around his fingers and he continued to move them in and out of her until her body stopped shaking. He caught the scent of her arousal once again, and was suddenly filled a desire to taste her.

Clarisse whimpered softly as Joseph withdrew his fingers. Her eyes widened as he brought his fingers, glistening with her arousal, to his mouth and closed his lips around them. She moaned at the blatant eroticism of the act.

“Mmm…” Joseph groaned as he pulled his fingers out of his mouth. “As sweet as I remember…”

“…Joseph…” Clarisse’s mouth crashed down on his and she moaned at the taste of herself on his tongue. “Joseph… I need to feel you inside me,” she told him and for emphasis, she reached between them and cupped his erection. “Now…” she quickly pushed his pants down over his hips so they pooled around his ankles.

Joseph nodded, grasped her thighs and lifted her into his arms. Clarisse wrapped her legs around his waist and met his gaze as he reached between them. Pushing her panties aside, he grasped his erection and nudged the head through her curls to press his length inside her.

Her breath caught as he continued to slide, inch by gloriously hard inch, into her body. “Oh, Joseph…” she gasped once he was sheathed completely within her.

A myriad of emotions passed between them as they became one physically... possession, belonging, lust, and a feeling so right and so strong that it brought tears to their eyes. And love. The love that they’d suppressed for far too long burst forth between them, rejoining their souls…

“I love you…” they whispered simultaneously. Broad smiles broke out over their faces neither one moving in order to savour the feel of their joining.

Clarisse tightened her legs around him as Joseph buried his face in her breasts; raining kisses over each mound before taking one silk-covered tip into his mouth, teasing the rosy nipple with his teeth and tongue. Her one hand gripped his shoulder while the other slipped into his hair and held him against her breast.

Slowly, unable to hold back any longer, Clarisse began to undulate her hips against him. She gasped when Joseph moaned against her breast, the vibrations shooting through her body before he kissed his way up over her chest to her lips; covering them in an ardent kiss as he began a slow, gentle thrusting inside her.

“Mmm…” Clarisse moaned softly, feeling him move slowly in and out of her. She pressed herself against him, enjoying the leisurely pace he’d set, but urging him to move deeper. She broke off the kiss and their eyes met, smiling softly at each other as he kept the slow, steady pace.

Joseph dipped his head, nipping at the soft skin of her neck before moving up to kiss her once again. He groaned softly, their tongues tangling as his strokes within her became longer and deeper, the pleasant tension building inside him, aching to find release.

Clarisse pulled her mouth from his to gasp for breath as the sensations, coiling in the pit of her stomach, grew and spread throughout her body. She gripped his shoulders and thrust herself against him. “…Joseph… more… please…”

Joseph nodded and, gripping her waist tighter, began to move faster, driving himself deeper and deeper inside her. He felt her legs tighten around him as she guided his thrusts, pulling him closer.

Their bodies moved together in total concert, moving with and against each other as they strived to find their release; their tempo increasing with each thrust of their bodies.

“Jo… mmm… Jo…seph…” Clarisse moaned, her head falling back against the column, reveling in the feel of Joseph’s hard, lean body pressing and driving into hers over and over again. She could feel the sensations that centred between her thighs begin to grow and spread throughout her body; knowing that soon, it would consume her.

Joseph groaned her name when he felt her hands clutch at his shoulders. He felt his control slip as the urge to thrust harder and deeper into her, and to join more completely with her overwhelmed him. He looked deep into her eyes and could see that she was as close as he was. “Oh god, Clarisse… I…”

“I know…” her hand found its way to his cheek, cupping it briefly. “Joseph…”

He heard the need for release in her voice and with a final, almost bruising kiss; he gave into the urge to thrust harder inside her. He heard her cry out his name as he drove himself deep inside her and felt her legs tighten even more in response.

Their gasps and moans mingled, as they moved closer to the edge, their bodies grinding against each other with wild abandon. Joseph held tight to her waist as he thrust into her welcoming heat over and over again. Soon they were calling out each other’s names repeatedly as the sensations consumed them.

All of a sudden, Clarisse arched against him, her legs locking tightly around his waist; her nails digging into his shoulders as her orgasm exploded and washed over her. “Joseph! Oh… JOOSEPH!”

“Clarisse!” Joseph groaned loudly and his hands slid from her waist to grasp her thighs. He pulled her against him as he thrust into her one last time, his release pouring out of him, bathing her insides with his essence. “Oh god, Clarisse!”

Clarisse rested her forehead against Joseph’s as she sought to catch her breath. She could feel Joseph’s heart pounding against his chest, and knew hers was pounding just as wildly.

Feeling that his legs were not going to support them much longer, Joseph glanced around, and spotted a chair near the French doors. He kicked a foot free of his pants. “Hang on,” he told her in a quiet voice as he slipped his hands beneath Clarisse’s bottom.

Clarisse nodded and wound her arms around his neck as Joseph carried her across the room. The movement sent fissures of pleasure, from the point of their joining, up through her body and her lips whispered kisses over his smooth pate in response.

When Joseph reached the chair, he gave her rear a soft tap. “Watch your legs,” he whispered then lowered himself down. Once settled on the chair, Clarisse’s robe falling in a silken curtain about his legs, Joseph ran his hands slowly up and down her back as she busied herself with soft nibbles to his jaw and neck.

At that moment, the Grandfather clock in the hall began to chime. 

One.

Two.

As the second chime died away, Joseph nuzzled Clarisse’s ear. “Do you know what today is?”

Clarisse lifted her head and met his eyes as she answered in a quiet voice, “It’s the anniversary of the first time we made love.”

“You remember.”

“Of course I remember,” Clarisse replied and cupped his face in her hands. “A woman never forgets the first man she is intimate with, Joseph.”

Joseph smiled and grasped her wrists as he turned his head to press his lips into her palms. “Do you know how difficult it was for me to let you go that morning?”

Clarisse nodded. “Yes, I do… it was difficult for me to leave you then as well.” She paused and stroked her thumb over his goatee. “Did I ever tell you that I almost didn’t marry Rupert?”

“No, you didn’t.”

“When I returned from Paris with Grandy, I met with Rupert and confessed that I had met someone while in Paris and… that we had been together.”

Joseph nodded in understanding, knowing where the conversation was heading. The bride of a future king was expected to be a virgin upon marriage; thus ensuring that the heirs conceived were legitimate.

“I was so conflicted… torn between my feelings for you and the duty that had been ingrained into me while growing up,” she took a deep breath before continuing. “We finally agreed to go through with the wedding but not consummate it just in case…”

“You were pregnant with my child?”

Clarisse nodded.

“And if you had been?”

“We would have annulled the marriage, and Rupert would have helped me to find you.”

Wistful smiles came to their faces as they thought about what could have been. After a few moments, Joseph reached up to cup her cheek. “I would have loved to have had children with you.” Clarisse nuzzled his palm in response. “However, I would not change what we have now, and what we will have, for something we might have had.”

“I wouldn’t either,” Clarisse replied. “Over the years, the love I felt for you has grown deeper and matured into something so much stronger…” she paused as Joseph anointed the tips of her fingers with tiny kisses. “And more importantly… you have become my dearest friend.”

“And you mine,” he said. “I can think of no better foundation for a relationship than that.”

“Joseph…” she began.

He placed his finger against her lips to stop her. “Sssh… I know. And it’s all right, I understand.”

“Are you certain? It’s asking a lot.”

“I am certain,” Joseph nodded. “I love you, Clarisse. We have waited a long time to be together again… and if that means keeping our relationship quiet, then I am willing to do that.”

Clarisse smiled and leaned in to give him a loving kiss. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Joseph replied and drew her mouth back to his.

The gentle brush of lips quickly deepened into a passionate exchange. Tongues tangled, and hands wandered, reigniting the embers of desire.

Clarisse moaned into his mouth as she felt his member begin to swell within her. “Darling…” she ground against him, “let’s continue this upstairs, shall we?”

Joseph drew back, his eyes dark and smoky. “Most definitely,” he agreed in a husky voice then gave her a quick, passionate kiss before he helped her off his lap.

They quickly adjusted their clothing then moved, hand in hand towards the door. Before they left the room, Clarisse turned to Joseph.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For knowing that I needed this… needed you… needed to finish our dance,” Clarisse answered.

“I was wrong earlier when I said that.”

“How so?”

“My darling… we’ve not finished our dance…” Joseph told her with a broad smile. “We’ve only just resumed dancing. Our dance will never end.”


End file.
